It’s a case study in every sense of the word.
What began with a single-shot molded component became a resin-to-box success story, evolving Stelray from a small injection mold shop into a full-service contract manufacturer. Oral care appliances may look like any ordinary off-the-shelf CPG, but they have been transformative to the Stelray Plastic Products story—a runway for innovation in product, process, and plant.
Onboarding the Product
Our earliest partner brought the product to us in the late 1990s as a boil-and-bite mouthguard to address nighttime teeth grinding, clinically known as bruxism. It was a simple design, akin to athletic mouthguards. After integrating the program at Stelray, we explored a protective case to house the appliance between uses. Again, a simple design but one with aesthetic standards and a high-gloss surface finish.
The program expanded as the product caught on with consumers. But the rapidly increasing demand was felt disproportionately. Our customer needed mouthguards and cases in rapidly-shrinking lead times—almost as fast we could make them. So we asked what we could do to help.
Addressing Pain Points
As it turns out, our customer was shipping the two components to another contractor to assemble and package the final product, before forwarding onto their distributors. This extra movement and handling added days onto their supply chain, putting the pressure back on us.
Our customer worked alongside us to secure registration as an FDA approved facility in order to final pack oral care products, and we put together a team to integrate an assembly and packaging process for the appliances.
We built out our segregated white room to handle the growing demand of production, as well as the initial assembly steps. We fortified our Quality Management System in line with ISO 9001 and FDA standards to deliver a completely packaged part ready for point-of-sale distribution.
Successes and Growth Potential
Quickly, Stelray became the one-stop shop for our customer. From initial intake of raw resin to a finished good en route to the distributor, it all happened under our roof in Ansonia, Connecticut. As we developed our know-how and the market took off, new opportunities arose.
Seeking to market a more durable solution, our customer redesigned their original mouthguard to better integrate the flexible bite plate into the rigid substrate. But this demanded two resins that would chemically bond for the life of the product. Stelray offered a solution: investigating dozens of resin interactions and testing molded samples until the ideal product was achieved.
Using the latest injection molding technology, Stelray operators were able to rapidly overmold the rigid substrate across multiple cavities—dramatically reducing production time and cost to our customer to meet the increased demand of the mouthguard’s next generation.
Exponential market growth brought even more product profiles, such as no-boil bite pads, and a new oral appliance use case: the anti-snore device. As our expertise and capabilities grew to meet the moment, Stelray found itself uniquely positioned to deliver consumer-grade oral care appliances across a range of markets and scales in partnership with key industry players.
Staying Service-Focused
It took a lot of hard work and unrelenting effort to adopt the regulatory standards, develop the operational capabilities, and refine the supply chain to arrive where we are today. But the motivation remained the same all along.
Essential to Stelray’s DNA is our passion for delivering the service our customers deserve: from shoot-and-ship components to aesthetically packaged goods designed to stand out in the market. Whether it demands researching a cutting-edge material, acquiring new equipment, advancing our certifications, or anything in between, Stelray is committed to molding your future.
How Can I Learn More?
Stelray Plastic Products offers numerous advantages for device manufacturers, including high-quality and precise products, cost-effective manufacturing, and design flexibility. With the ability to produce complex and intricate designs with tight tolerances, Stelray’s injection molding service is the preferred choice for your company’s molding solutions.
To learn more about our injection molding services, including our medical molding solutions, please call or email our Sales team below!